The Beer of the Week

Beer of the Week 109 - 2/21/2012: Founders Curmudgeon’s Better Half

My AWESOME girlfriend, Ashleigh, gave me this limited release bottle from Founders for Valentine’s Day this year! What can I say? She knows me pretty well! Pretty apropo gift considering the name of the beer and the label art.

Founders previously released this beer as a draft only beer called Kaiser’s Curmudgeon (See Beer of the Week Special Edition 4). When they decided to make it the third release in their limited Backstage Series line of beers, they re-branded it as Curmudgeon’s Better Half.

Curmudgeon’s Better Half is an old ale that is brewed with molasses and then aged in bourbon barrels that were once used to age maple syrup. Yes, that does sound awesome doesnt it? Founders loves to use bourbon barrels that were used to age maple syrup to impart a distinct flavor to the beers they are aging. Fairly certain that this is the producer of the maple syrup where they receive their barrels, but that is just speculation on my part (http://blisgourmet.com/home/products/pure-maple-syrup.html).

Better Half has aromas of brown sugar, buttery toffee, bourbon, vanilla, and caramel. As it warms, notes of maple and raisin come through along with a bit of oak. The taste follows the nose quite well. Flavors of sweet caramel, toffee, and molasses mix well with vanilla, bourbon and maple syrup. Flavors of brown sugar, raisins and oak make their way through the sweetness to add another layer of complexity. The maple flavor was more subdued than I thought it would be, but for me, I liked the level it was integrated into the beer. Personally, I think the barrel treatment on this beer really added a nice complexity to the base beer (Founders Old Curmudgeon).

This has the potential to be considered too sweet by many. The draft version was WAY too sweet to me; and I have a serious sweet-tooth. This version, although sweet, was much less sweet than the sugary onslaught the draft version packed. I was SUPER happy to get to try this one, and was definitely one of my most favorite Valentine’s Day gifts!